Our Brave New Digital World

Does the iPad mean the end of the (free) Web as we know it? Apparently this guy thinks so. Of course, this is hardly the first time that someone's pounced on the latest Gadget de Jour and built out from there a Brave New Digital World for the rest of us.

Then again:

• Estimated sale of iPads for 2010: 4.3 million *
• Estimated sale of netBooks for 2010: 44 million **

So we're supposed to ignore the larger number and assume that these clueless tens of millions are going to drop their open access devices packed with such wildly popular 'app stores' as 'Download.com' -- all in favor of a garden full of pay-walls?

Sounds like a tough sale to me.